RIVERSIDE — We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? A popular chancellor with a strong commitment to athletics announces his departure from UC Riverside, and those left behind in the athletic department wonder, with some trepidation, what happens next.

Last time the fears were warranted. Ray Orbach had all but midwifed UCR’s ascension to Division I before leaving to join the federal Department of Energy in 2001. Successor France A. Cordova, whose approach to intercollegiate sports was about as indifferent as her interest in selling the virtues of the university to the surrounding community, may have set UCR athletics back a decade during her seven years in charge.

And now the folks based in the Athletics and Dance Building again stare into the great unknown.

Timothy P. White demonstrated his interest in and commitment to a strong athletic program, among other projects, after replacing Cordova in 2008. But he announced Thursday he’s leaving, probably around the first of the year, to become chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system.

The Cal States are getting a good one, unquestionably.

But what will UCR be getting? And will its athletic department continue the small, tentative but forward strides it has made under Brian Wickstrom, with White’s explicit support, or will there be another period of negligence that sets the program back once again?

“My sincere hope is that a new chancellor will come in and realize this is a work in progress,” Riverside attorney Mike Marlatt said. “The program can be successful, so you don’t take your foot off the accelerator and say, ‘This isn’t the best allocation of resources.’ ”

White’s successes in his four years at UCR — including the medical school whose accreditation was confirmed Monday, and a school of public policy launched this fall — stemmed in large part from his willingness to reach out.

“I think that’s paramount (for a replacement),” local businesswoman Amy Harrison said. “The only reason the medical school was pushed over the bar was because Tim so embraced the community that the Board of Supervisors kicked in, the city kicked in, and private donors kicked in.

“He made this community feel like it want to be involved with the university.”

That brings us to the proposed C-Center arena, still in the site feasibility report stages. Though Wickstrom has been the point man, make no mistake: This is White’s baby, and has been from day one.

Does this project, potentially the highest-profile ever on UCR’s campus, go on hold during the search for a new chancellor? And what if the incoming leader doesn’t consider it important enough to pursue?

Remember, Wickstrom has gotten a lot of things done in his year plus in the athletic director’s chair, cutting through bureaucratic red tape in a system that loves its process. That’s because he reports directly to White and has his full support.

“The chancellor gave me a couple of charges: to improve the competitiveness of the athletics program, and to move forward,” Wickstrom said. “As long as I did things in those directions, he always had my back. That’s been a huge help for me. If I had an issue, I’d go directly to him to resolve it. It just helped so much because Chancellor White understood Division I athletics.”

Remember that last sentence. It may be the key to how the department fares under his successor.

The tug of war involving UCR athletics has gone on for close to three decades, with chancellors who thought it important (Ted Hullar, Orbach, White) succeeded by those who didn’t (Rosemary Schraer, Cordova).

“At least we have an athletic director and a staff in place that have vision and are going somewhere,” alumnus and local attorney Matthew Nelson said. “Really, it’s all dependent on who the replacement is. If someone sees the role athletics plays, we’re back on track.

“I think we’re going to get a better candidate this go-round, based on the prominence and the recognition the school has gotten in the past couple of years. I’m expecting the caliber of people applying to be even better than it was four years ago.”

That would be a pretty good legacy for the departing chancellor, wouldn’t it?

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